Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1887-11-18


nhcrntc, the French ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
inston's L,ugh--Ihe Bibie and Poets
Use Of the Word.
OF the worlds population those who 10
not laugh are, it is safe to assume. in the
minority. Laughter is n language known
to all races in all lands. From the re-
sounding 'haw haw' of the male New
Englander to the hsh strung cachinua-
ton Of the Sorth Sea Islander, there may
be as wide range OF intouation AMI OK
preston as there is OF chronological posi-
ton; but rs rule laughter means but
one thing-the tickling Of the fancy Of the
person who laughs. Six Years ago BecchCr
asked from lecture platform i'm New
sork if any Of his hearers had ever heard
Chinese laugh, the question being
worded in a way intended 10 imply
negative answer. That the Celestial can
and does give vent 10 his milth!ul feel
ings after the manner of other mortals
can readily he attc.tcd by any one WHO
has long resided in San Francisco. To lie
sure, the Chinese laugh is rarely as hearty
or expressive as the American or
European II is oftencr a litter than
genuine out urst Of merrimeut There
is little character or force in il. ~ ftr
the Arabian laugh, we hear little ~ IT'S
hi ious ring through the ages Of rJrth
in e Old world. The Arab is generally
l0Ckcd upon as a stoild fclloW-a man
likely 10 persist i'm refusing 10 give one The
henett OF n mirihful appreciation 81 a
joke, even if he saw the point. Travellers
say however, that he does LAUGH on ocCa-
sion, but that he must either see good rca-
son for it beforehand or he surprised into
IL. In Persia a man Who laughs j. con-
sidered efleminate, but free license Is SAID
TO be given 10 female mcrrimCnt Fred
Burnaby has written Of his experiences
among the laughing beauties Of a certain
district in the northern part Of that country
lie says that under cover OF the good nature
implied 10y their pretended jollty, they
make bold 10 fitch everything Traveller
may have in his possession. One reads If
the grave Turk and the sober Egyp-
tian, but it is hot recorded that they never
have moments Of mirth-whcn the fez
bols or the veil shakes under pressure Of
some particularly good thing IN Ma
hOnet himself Christian writers have
noted cordially and jocoseness, and they
say th5re was good ringing laugh in the
prophet with all his seriousness.
An American traveller in Europe re-
marks the Italian laugh as languid hut
musical, the German as deliberate, the
French as spasmodic and uncertain. TIC
upper class English as well guarded Nnd
not always genuine, the lower class Ing
lish as explosive, the Scotch Of al classes
AS hearty and the Irish as rollickinc
TttTe is much that is indicative Of char
acter in the laugh Of some people, while
in others Of strong personality the laugh
is the weakest and most charactorlcss
thing about them. 1t is said Of Nelson
that his laugh was often without spirit.
Napoleon laughed little. and not always
At things in which men Of his command
ng dignity might he expected TO fine any
thing funny When Washington cared TO
break through his natural reserve he
could laugh as long and as loud Is any
one, but his biograI hers record but few
instances of the display OF POPULARITY on
the part of the fathe- OF his country. a
laughing president does not cut e very
dignihed figure before one who Is i'm
pressed with the belief that sedateness is
necessary attribute OK n governments
chief executive, yet Lincoln made bold 10
laugh whenever lie chose, always welcom
ing a good story teller, and relating With
much good feeling droll tales Of his own
life. Webster could tell n good story,
often at his own expense, and join heartily
with his hearers I'm the laugh ut The end
He had true laugh There are those
men. as Carlyle has tritely remarked,
whose laugh is as untrue as anything
about them.
In the Bible the words laugh"
slaughter" and Laughing" occur only
thirteen times, which, while in keeping
with the gravity Of the text, is considered
10y some commentators M rather Singular.
Milton nnkes little use Of the word IN
his works Shakespeare employs IL fire.
quently and often systematically Ten
nyson's men and women laugh infre-
uuently, although they sometimes smile.
Dickens made n great deal Of the laugh,
and often managed thereby 10 give the
reader clew To tho character OF lis men
and women.
Like the careful student Of human na-
ture that she was, George Eliot made note
of the thousand and one ways IN which
character discloses itself through the
medium of the laugh
In this merry age good laugh is proba-
bly, enjoyed rs much rs 1t ever was IN the
worlds history. But what would nuke a
man lnugh ten or twenty years ago cannot
be relied upon 10 do so now. Practical
jokes, for instance, are no longer popular,
mud wittcisms Of the studied order, even
In comic opera or burlesquc, often fail OF
appreciation. And there is the difference
IN national taste joke that sets an Eng
lisbm1n or a German roaring is nine
times out ~ ten voted tame, If not stupid,
by the American. Our modern wits rely
less upon cap and bells than upon Keen
satire nnd quick repartee The laugh
Tins created is always spontaneous, and
whether in senate chamber or court oil
justice, II Is rrepressihle.
Men hetray or commit themselves by
their laughter aS often rs by anything
~ knew | Ind emily to wait until nc
laughed 10 tell II he were lying said q
great English philosopher Of a man whom
he had suspected Of falsfyng In an IN.
portant mntter The kna'c's laugh j.
sail to he cunning, the fools shallow, the
drunkard's coarse, the lunatic's Wild ard
meaningless Ii man would not disclose
his character let him not laugh. lie may
emulate goud nature and even friendship
10y smiling. hut he should Ieavarc 81
audihly expressing his real lr pretended
nirth. fcr there are those--and they are
Lee 81 .